By Paul Nicholson
June 21 – Sports broadcaster, beIN SPORT, which has been rapidly growing its global footprint, has announced the launch of three high-definition sports channels in Indonesia in partnership with TV sports rights specialists MP & Silva from Italy. The channels will launch July 1.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – Arsenal’s problematic pre-season tour of Vietnam, the first to the country by an English Premier League side, will go ahead despite another dispute – this time over a promotional video.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – Asian football, so often embroiled in negative politics, is doing its best to support thousands of Syrian refugees who have been streaming over the Jordanian border.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 14 – Organisers of a pre-season friendly between Arsenal and Vietnam’s national team are facing a battle to ensure the match goes ahead after the owners of the Hanoi stadium involved hiked up their fees.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 11 – Prince Ali, head of the Jordanian FA, has had an increasingly influential and vocal role as a member of the FIFA executive committee and successfully championed the lifting of the ban on the hijab in women’s football.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – The Australian government has apologised to Jordan for its Iraqi national team coach, Adnan Hamad, being detained for more than four hours when the squad flew into Melbourne last week ahead of tomorrow’s (Tuesday) crunch World Cup qualifier.
June 6 – Bottlers Nepal Ltd, the sole bottlers of Coca-Cola in the Himalayan kingdom, have extended their sponsorship of the Coca-Cola Cup U-16 Inter-school Football Tournament for a further five years.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – Jordan are planning a formal complaint to FIFA after national team coach, Iraqi Adnan Hamad (pictured), was detained for questioning by Australian immigration authorities for more than four hours when the team flew into Melbourne – and into an international storm – ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifier on June 11.
June 3 – Dubai’s Emirates Airline expects to be signing its next big football sponsorship with a club outside Europe, according to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline’s chairman and chief executive.
June 3 – Optus, Australia’s second biggest telecommunications company, has made a strategic decision to withdraw from major sports sponsorships and will not be renewing sponsorship and digital content rights deals with Football Federation Australia (FFA).
By Mark Baber
May 29 – A row has broken out between the football authorities of the UAE and Iran after the announcement that the UAE Pro League will be renamed the Arabian Gulf League from next season.
May 29 – The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee has appointed Amsterdam Arena and IMG as the Stadium Operations Consultants for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.
May 28 – Al Hilal Bank, the Abu Dhabi bank, has renewed its sponsorship of the UAE’s premier club tournament, the UAE President’s Cup, for a fifth year. The other major sponsors are Etisalat and the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.
By Mark Baber
May 28 – Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate Group has denied its proposed Oryx Island & Gulf Resort projects, widely reported as planned to house World Cup fans, are in any way related to projects for the 2022 World Cup.
By Mark Baber
May 27 – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured) has announced the broadcasting of live betting odds will be banned from sports coverage, with gambling advertising relegated to designated commercial breaks during quarter and half-times.